The sheer irony of Manchester United staff expressing concern about the growing involvement of Erik ten Hag’s agent Kees Vos in transfer activity at Old Trafford when it is something the club clearly let happen.
The Daily Mail has done a report tonight revealing that Vos’ Sports Entertainment Group (SEG) has become the go-to agency in negotiating player signings and sales for Manchester United.
This won’t be news to anyone who listens to the Strettycast, though. I have long explained that SEG, especially Mr Kees, was given too much power at United when Erik ten Hag was appointed.
Ten Hag’s son, Nigel, is also employed by the agency as an analyst.
The report outlines that SEG worked on player sales and signings during a busy window which saw United spend £178 million on four new arrivals.
SEG represented Rasmus Hojlund during his £72m move from Atalanta, with the Danish striker joining the agency towards the end of last season. They also acted for United in negotiations over the loan signing of Sofyan Amrabat from Serie A side Fiorentina.
Moreover, SEG were involved in selling United player Zidane Iqbal to Utrecht in June just two months after the 20-year-old joined from fellow major agency CAA Base.
It came as no surprise because this was a club that previously saw Ed Woodward hang his coat off major players in the agency game. One summer we signed three of the late Mino Raiola’s clients including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
How did that work out?
The truth of the matter is it’s a dangerous game jumping into bed with one particular agency and it’s not something a club the size of Manchester United need to do.
SEG’s influence at United is felt but it also raises questions about John Murtough’s role. I mean, what does he really do? Perhaps if he took responsibility the club or Ten Hag wouldn’t need to lean on SEG.
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What a shambles there’s no way a managers agent should have anything to with club transfers that’s why we need a proper DOF not the clowns that are in charge now
im sorry dale but you seem to make it the fault of only the club’s and not ETH? if Ten Hag thinks this is the best way to run a club the size of united then it is hardly surprising that he is coming unstuck.
as trevor says, the club need a proper DOF, in ETH’s time the transfers haven’t been great – I actually only think antony and mount are disastrous but i’m more concerned about ETH’s tactics and man-management tbh.
this fanbase sometimes, i swear. a manager happens to have the same agent as a player. correlation is not causation, but you are putting two and two together and somehow coming up with five.
every united manager since fergie has had the same struggles, due to the owners employing inept yes men in key positions–ten hag is no different. how is it his fault that united are so poor at recruitment? how is it his fault we can’t sell players because we pay them too much?ten hag doesn’t “run the club,” mate, he manages the squad and walked into a dumpster fire while inheriting a ton of chaos.
people are too quick to completely forget what ten hag accomplished last year despite all of this, but they’re happy to sack him after FIVE MATCHES. ffs
ETH is not in charge of transfers since he has come in?
absolute nonsense – which one of malacia, martinez, antony, casemiro, onana, mount, amrabat, hojulnd have not been his choices?
casemiro is the only answer in that group.
yes united need a sporting director, but ETH has a terrible eye for a player.
fact is ETH doesnt even have a style of play, he was appointed to implement a style. what is that? he is supposed to be a possession/high press coach, his captain is bruno. his star player is rashford.
always excuses with the likes of Strettynews and Paddock. did it with ole now ETH. ETH is clearly a poor manager, it says alot that football writers can’t see the realities of the poor performances, dreadful tactics and frankly poor-man management.
proofs in the pudding, as it was with ole. no getting around results.
where did i say ten hag wasn’t involved in transfers? you have to read, mate, before responding–half your response is irrelevant, due to your failure/inability to do so.
if you’re going to completely dismiss everything ten hag did last season, the circumstances involved, and the fact that, like every united manager since fergie, he’s managing with one hand tied behind his back, and instead focus solely on three losses five matches into the season, then there really any point discussing it further with you.
let’s see how any manager does with a dozen injured players. let’s see any manager in his second season institute his system with so many starting eleven players injured. this knee-jerk, overreacting fanbase needs to have a look at themselves.
if you can’t support united when we lose, don’t support us when we win.
‘how is it his fault that united are so poor at recruitment’
if you seriously don’t think ETH has been running transfers then you can see very little. most signings have a direct link to him, mainly having played for him, at some point his influence on transfers is obvious and can’t be dismissed.
I’ll support whoever I want, but i support united not like you fanboys at SN who attach themselves to players/managers and pretend that they’re real fans who write 1000 word articles that no-one reads.
fact is you lot at SN know nothing about football, literally less than Paddock, and you all get very defensive when anyone points out that the current manager gets schooled constantly.
like i said we will see who is correct anyway, results don’t lie. or does he need more money as he hasn’t been backed?
seriously, man, you have to read. if you can’t, then tell me now, because i wouldn’t feel right about having a debate with someone who can’t.
united have been poor at recruitment across the board–not just transfers and not just in the last year–for well over a decade. overpaying in fees and player wages and holding onto subpar players for too long has killed us in the eyes of FFP because we can’t sell anyone and the owners won’t pry open their own wallets. ten hag identified players like antony and amrabat months before the club got around to signing them, giving him no preseason with his desired players and potentially costing us points in the early matches of the season.
any manager deserves time. your constant drivel against ten hag is representative of the extreme of the modern fanbase who play too much FIFA and think that oil money or top managers automatically mean trophies. no manager deserves to be sacked after five matches, especially considering what ten hag accomplished last year.
literally every united manager since fergie has bemoaned united’s ownership when it comes to transfer targets. it’s been the same for ten hag. you criticize his transfers, but conveniently ignore the targets he didn’t get or got too late because of united’s inept negotiators. klopp refused to take the job and said, too, that we’re not run like a football club, but a business. city lose de bruyne and get nunes days later. ten hag loses eriksen and donny and we get sabitzer on loan.
open your eyes, mate. ten hag has been without a fully fit squad since preseason; when he has his players fit–players for his system–and is given time to work, then we’ll talk. until then, criticize performances all you want, but back the manager and the squad, like a proper fan.
no one is being defensive besides you, dixon. instead of engaging with the discussion, you’re content with accusing people of not knowing anything. you bring nothing to the conversation other than toxicity and narrow-mindedness. grow up, take a breath, and maybe take a break from the internet for a few days